The Academy Awards makes for the most prestigious award for film and all things associated around the world, and India has managed to pave its way through it by having some incredible winners who have made or contributed to some amazing movies over the last few decades. These individuals have managed to craft a space for them on the global scale with their commendable hard work and talent. Here is a list of all the Indian Oscar winners.
Also Read: 15 Best Indian Movies Sent As Oscar Entries That Are Simply Exquisite
1. Satyajit Ray
It would not be enough to reduce this maestro to just one of the Indian Oscar winners. Satyajit Ray was a film director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and composer from India. Ray is widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of all time, with films such as The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), The Music Room (1958), The Big City (1963), and Charulata to his credit (1964). Ray was the director of 36 films, which included feature films, documentaries, and shorts. He also wrote a number of short tales and books, most of which were aimed at young children and teenagers. Feluda the detective, Professor Shonku the scientist, Tarini Khuro the storyteller, and Lalmohan Ganguly the author are some of Ray’s most well-known creations. He’s also known for his terrifying tales. Ray received an Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1992.
Bhanu Athaiya was an Indian painter and costume designer. She was the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group’s only female member and the first Indian to win an Academy Award. She had a historic early career as an artist with contemporaries like M. F. Husain, F. N. Souza, and Vasudeo S. Gaitonde, in addition to becoming Bollywood’s most iconic costume designer. The Progressive Artists’ Group display in Bombay in 1953 featured two of Bhanu Rajopadhye’s works. Bhanu went on to become one of the key developers of the aesthetic of a young India through her work on Bollywood film costumes after switching from art to filmmaking. She worked on more than a hundred films. She was the first Indian woman to receive an Academy Award for Best Costume Design (shared with John Mollo) for her work in the 1982 film Gandhi. Hers is one of the foremost names that comes to mind when talking about Indian Oscar winners.
3. A.R. Rahman
One of the most awarded Indian musicians of all time and one of the most prominent Indian Oscar winners, Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian film composer, record producer, vocalist, and songwriter who primarily works in Indian (especially Tamil and Hindi) and occasionally international movies. The Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award, was bestowed upon him by the Indian government in 2010. Six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, fifteen Filmfare Awards, and seventeen Filmfare Awards South are among Rahman’s many accolades. Rahman received two Academy Awards in 2009 for his score for Slumdog Millionaire (Best Original Score and Best Original Song, the latter shared with Gulzar) at the 81st Academy Awards. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Jai Ho” (co-written with A.R. Rahman) for the film Slumdog Millionaire at the 81st Academy Awards.
Resul Pookutty is an Indian sound designer, sound editor, and audio mixer who works in the film industry. With Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp, he won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing for Slumdog Millionaire. In addition to British films, Pookutty has worked in Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam. For his work on Slumdog Millionaire, he won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing with Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke.
5. Gulzar
Gulzar is a Hindi film director, poet, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and screenwriter from India. He has won five Indian National Film Awards, including two for Best Lyrics, one for Best Screenplay, one for Second Best Feature Film (director), and one for Best Popular Film (director), as well as 22 Filmfare Awards, one Academy Award, and one Grammy Award. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Jai Ho” (co-written with A.R. Rahman) for the film Slumdog Millionaire at the 81st Academy Awards.
These amazingly creative individuals have established themselves in the global music space, breaking the glass ceilings and defying cultural and geographical barriers. These Indian Oscar winners continue to make us proud over the years, and we hope that there will be more in the future.